About this item
On the production line in American packinghouses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Under pressure to increase supply, the supervisors of meat-processing plants have routinely accelerated the pace of conveyors, leading to inhumane conditions, increased accidents, and food of questionable and often dangerous quality. In The Chain, acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and its most famous product, Spam, to probe the state of the meatpacking industry. Interviewing scores of line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists, Genoways reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point. Along the way, he exposes alarming new trends: sick or permanently disabled workers, abused animals, water and soil pollution, and mounting conflict between small towns and immigrant labor.
About the Author
Ted Genoways (born 1972) was the editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review from 2003 to 2012. He graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Texas Tech University with an MA, and from the University of Virginia with an MFA. His work has appeared in DoubleTake, New England Review, Ploughshares.
